Aero Mail
If you have a letter to the editor, please submit it to MA Editor-in-Chief Jay Smith at 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302, or email to jays@modelaircraft.org or at www.ModelAviation.com/editor
SMALL Event and the Vulcan
I just got the October issue in yesterday’s mail and have already received several inquiries and comments about both the SMALL coverage and the Vulcan article. Thankfully, all have been positive so far!
Thanks to you and your staff for doing a great job on the layout and the overall look of both articles. I particularly liked the lead page on the Vulcan article and the use of the roundel as a backdrop.
—Larry Kruse
aircats@att.net
Safety Tips for Use of Multiconnector Charge Leads
Good articles on batteries, but I think a bit more safety information is in order when using a multiconnector charging lead such as you show in the photo on page 47 of the September issue of Model Aviation.
- Always plug the banana plugs into the charger before you connect a battery to any of the plugs on the charge lead. If you plug the battery in first, the metal prongs of the banana plugs become “live” and, if they accidentally touch, things can get very hot very quickly. (Actually this applies to single plug charge leads too if they have banana plugs to connect to the charger.)
- Never plug more than one battery onto the charge lead at one time. Batteries with different numbers of cells will cause high currents to flow between them. Even if the batteries have the same cell count, they may be at different charge (voltage) levels and have high currents flow between them. Either way, things may get very hot very quickly.
- If any of the battery plugs on the charge lead are Deans plugs (or similar) with bare prongs, do not lose or leave off the insulating safety socket that comes with the charge lead to cover those prongs. They become live whenever a battery is connected to any of the other charge plugs, and if unprotected may result in a short circuit if they touch any other bare metal.
I use these multiconnector charge leads all the time and they are extremely useful, but you may not be surprised to hear that some of this advice was learned by other than theoretical considerations.
—Geoff Barrance
gbarrance@juno.com
2016 AMA General Membership Meeting
At the October 31, 2015, Executive Council meeting, it was determined that the official 2016 AMA Membership Meeting will be held Saturday, January 9, 2016, during AMA Expo in Ontario, California. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. in Ballroom B/C of the Ontario Convention Center.
